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Identifying Your Purpose

I believe many riders struggle because they haven’t identified their purpose.

Purpose is knowing why you are doing what you are doing.

Your purpose is your why - it gives you drive and keeps the fire going within you.

Your purpose also helps you to stay on track and follow your path, rather than get sidetracked by someone else’s path.

This can be explained easier in the following examples:

If you are passionate about educating horses and taking your time with each individual horse, you might come across people who want to take you down the path of competition and climbing up the competition ladder quickly. This can become a conflict within you over time.

If your purpose is to educate and train, and this is your main focus, competition and getting from one level to the next might not be your main priority. Therefore, it is important to know your purpose and follow it.

If your purpose is to compete and be the best you can be, being in an environment of riders who want to ride for fun might not be the appropriate place for you. You might find this is not the right environment for you because it is not aligned with your purpose.

Here are some examples outside of horse riding that can also relate:

If your purpose is to help and encourage people, and you are placed in a role at work, for example, where you have to be a debt collector, then that can again cause inner conflict.

If your purpose is financial independence and you enjoy making money, you don’t want to be around people who see money as a negative, because they have a limiting belief around it.

In the above examples, it is important to note there is no right or wrong way, it is simply different purposes that drive different actions and produce different outcomes for each of us.

Knowing your purpose will help you stay on track and maintain your enthusiasm. It also helps you when talking to others.

This is particularly important for professional riders when talking to their sponsors and owners, as well as for coaches when talking to their students.

Spend some time writing down your purpose; why you do what you are doing and this will help develop into your vision for the future.